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(No ModeL) I. P; NELSON.

ROLLER SKATE.

Patented June 9, 1885.

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IRENAEUS P. NELSON, OF HAMILTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T NAPOLEON B. TUBES, OF SAME PLACE. I

ROLLER-SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,839, dated June 9, 1885.

Application filed February 24, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRnNAEUs P. NELsoN, of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Skates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to roller-skates for parlor, rink, and pavement use, and it relates particularly to the mechanism of the rollertrucks.

My invention will be readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a roller-skate embodying my improvements, the forward left-hand wheel or roller of the skate being omitted so as to expose more fully the truck mechanism, all straps and other foot-fastenings being also omitted; Fig. 2, an elevation of the inside face of one of the trucks, shown upon an enlarged scale and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrow a of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3, an elevation of one of the springs, shown in modified form.

In the drawings, A represents the usual foot-board of a roller-skate; B, the trucks,'one secured near the heel and one near the toe, as usual; 0, the hangers of the trucks, secured in the'usual manner to the foot-board; D, a rocker-pin supported in the hanger, one in each hangenand forming the axis of oscillation for the wheel-housing; E, the wheel-housing, formed, in the case illustrated, of a cast tube; F, a housing-horn cast with the housing E and projecting upward and engagingthe rockerpin D; G, the wheel-axles secured within and projecting from each end of the housing, E; H, the wheels or rollers, of which there are four, one upon each end of each axle; I, footshoulders formed by a shelf-like projection cast upon the housing E; J, rods hung to the hangers and projecting downward through the foot-shoulders, there being two rods for each truck, one disposed on either side of the rocker-pin; K, an adjusting-nut at the upper end of each rod; L, Springs surrounding the rods and disposed between the adjusting-nuts and footing-shoulders, and M swing-pivots atthe top of the rods engaging lugs on the lower surface of the hanger-plate. The rocker-pins D are (lisposedangularly, as is usual,whereby the tipping of the skaters foot serves to force the two wheel-axles of the skate in non-parallel planes, and thereby cause the skate to move in a curved path. The yielding of the spring permits the oscillation of the skate-bottom with reference to the horizontal plane of the wheel-axles, and by means of the adjustingnut the springs may be altered to suit the requirements of the skater. It is the office of the springs to normally hold the skate-bottom parallel to the horizontal plane of the wheelaxles, under which conditions the two axles of the skate should be in parallel vertical planes. The tension of one of the springs of the truck may be increased or decreased, so that the accuracy of this position will be normally maintained. The adjusting-nuts form abutments for the upper ends of the springs, and the nuts serve to correct inequalities in the length or strength of the springs. Should accurate manufacture insure equal length and strength of the springs and a proper degree of elasticity for the skater s requirements, the nuts need never be adjusted, and may, if desired, be formed as rigid unadjustable shoulders. Astherockingmotiontakesplacetherods within the springs slide through the footingshoulders, and the swing-pivots at their tops prevent them from impeding the rocking motion.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the springs are shown as helical springs acting under compression. These may, however, act tensionally by securing their bases to the footing-shoulder, and by arranging the adj listing-nuts to act upon them tensionally instead of compressively. Such arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 3.

' I have chosen for illustration awell-known form of skate in which the hangers are separably secured to the foot-board; but my improvements are equally applicable to metalbodied skates having the hangers cast integrally with the foot-piece.

Iclaim as my invention 1. In a roIlerskate, a hanger below the footpiece of the skate, a wheeled housing attached thereto by a rocker-pin, a pair of springs disposed one on each side of the rocker-pin and 3. In a ro1ler-skate,a hanger belowthe footpiece of the skate, a wheeled housing attached I 5 thereto by a rocker-pin, a pair of rods engagiug the hanger, and footing-shoulders upon the housing, springs surrounding the rods, and adjusting-nutsupon the rods above the springs, combined substantiallyas and for the purpose 20 set forth.

IRENAEUS P. NELSON.

Witnesses:

J. W. SEE, W. A. SEWARD. 

